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y name is Madilyn Norvell. I am currently 14 years old and a freshman at Amber-Pocasset Public Schools in Amber, Oklahoma.
I am very active in my school serving on Student Counsel and playing volleyball, and in my church, attending Bible bowls and helping with various service projects. My passion, however, is showing livestock and competing in FFA career development events. I began showing at just four years old, and since then, have never gone a show season without pigs, cattle, or both on feed! I have always been very fortunate to get to show multiple species because of the amazing people who have helped and mentored me at the barn. I couldn’t do it all without their hard work and support. I have been blessed to have success in the show ring including Grand Champion Barrow at the 2019 Oklahoma Youth Expo; Reserve Grand Champion Barrow at the 2019 Tulsa State Fair; Supreme Champion Purebred and Percentage Heifers at the 2022 Oklahoma Youth Expo; Reserve Supreme Champion Bred & Owned Female at the 2023 Junior National Hereford Expo; Supreme Champion Owned and Bred & Owned Female at the 2024 Tulsa State Fair; and most recently, Grand Champion Market Steer at the 2025 National Western. The National Western win was truly a memorable one! I was honored and humbled to be able to show in historic Stadium Arena. Although I am young, I know the rich tradition that has been established through decades of cattle shows in that building. To top it off, my experience at The Brown Palace Hotel was nothing short of incredible! Getting this special steer to this point was truly a group effort with lots of
people in my corner at home and at the show. I am so thankful for them as well as the National Western staff and volunteers. I realize none of this would be possible without each of them. In addition to showing, I have developed a love for livestock judging and public speaking. I was the State Winner in the 8th Grade Agriculture Exploration public speaking division at our state contest in 2024. My family is heavily involved in all aspects of my life, supporting me in any and all things I do. I have a younger sister, Saylor, who is 10 years old and showing cattle and pigs as well. We spend a lot of hours together at the barn, and we are both very competitive making it pretty interesting when it’s time to decide who gets to show what animals! It’s not just my family who supports me, though. I am so lucky to have the very best of friends, some older than me, like the barn help I mentioned above. Others, however, are those I’ve met through the livestock industry like my closest friend, Sadie Wynne. Sadie and I live only twenty
minutes apart and spend LOTS of time at each other’s houses and in each other’s barns. I am so grateful that God placed Sadie and so many special people in my life through this industry. I am truly blessed. My future plans are to attend a junior college on a livestock judging scholarship, then further my education and livestock judging career at Oklahoma State University. My dad is a contract lobbyist, advocating for, among other things, agriculture and oil and gas. I hope to be able to follow in his footsteps someday. ●
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